For two years now, FORUM has been implementing a project funded by the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture that provides legal aid to victims of torture and other forms of ill-treatment. FORUM has been representing a number of cases pending before different domestic levels that concern inaccessible redress for victims of torture or other forms of ill-treatment, including police violence, and it has specific experience and know-how in this regard.
The case of Valchář v. Czech Republic raises serious issues related to compensation for nonmaterial damage that resulted from police violence and ill-treatment. Apart from the individual level, the case reveals a systemic problem pertinent in the Czech Republic, in particular, that the current legal architecture of redress for ill-treatment raises serious concerns about its compatibility with requirements under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention. The present submission specifically points out that the short six-month statutory time limit to file compensation claims under the State Liability Act (No. 82/1998) hinders victims of ill-treatment from obtaining redress for non-pecuniary damage suffered as a result of human rights violations.
Our intervention in the Valchář case aims to promote the necessary reforms in the Czech legal system to ensure effective access to justice and compensation for victims of any type of police violence and violence in prisons or other places of deprivation of personal freedom.
Amicus curiae version downloadable in pdf.
